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Mixed precipitation this week with some records

February 01, 2013

Mixed precipitation this week with some records

The last week of January brought a good deal of moisture to the state
in the form of rain, freezing rain, drizzle, sleet, and snow, along
with some dense fog as well. Starting Sunday, January 27th dewpoints
climbed into the 20s and 30s F, and sleet and freezing rain began in
southern parts of the state about midday. By Monday hundreds of
accidents had been reported on slick roads. The Twin Cities reported a
new record amount of precipitation for the date with 0.49 inches. In
Monday (January 28) reports there were also several record setting
amounts of precipitation received, including 0.53 inches at Fargo (ND),
Moorhead, St Peter, and Jordan, along with 0.65 inches at Worthington.
Moorhead also reported a record snowfall on the 28th with 5.8 inches.
As the colder air moved over the state on Tuesday, another round of
precipitation brought mostly snow, and some record-setting amounts. New
snowfall records for January 29th were set at the following locations:12.0 inches at Detroit Lakes10.5 inches at Breckenridge and Cass Lake10.0 inches at Rothsay, Itasca State Park, and Bigfork9.5 inches at Pelican Rapids (with a new precipitation record of 0.70 inches)8.5 inches at Littlefork8.0 inches at Kettle Falls, Kabetogama, and Bemidji6.8 inches at Hawley

Yet
another round of snow on January 30th came to southeastern Minnesota,
where Rushford and LaCrescent reported a record 4.0 inches. For many
these last days of the month rescued what was an otherwise dry January,
bringing monthly precipitation amounts closer to normal or even a little
above normal in many areas,especially in the north. The month ended
(Jan 31) with dry air and another round of dangerous windchill values
ranging from -20 to -40 degrees F. By Friday morning, February 1st Park
Rapids and Fosston reported morning lows of -35 degrees F.

Preliminary Climate Summary for January 2013

Despite some cold temperature outbreaks the average January
temperature reported by most Minnesota observers ranged from 1 to 2
degrees F warmer than normal. Extremes for the month ranged from 52
degrees F at the Waskish Airport on January 10th to -42 degrees F at
Embarrass on the 24th. Grand Marais reported a windchill reading of -54
degrees F on the 21st.

Total precipitation for the month of
January was mixed, with some significantly above normal values reported,
and a few below normal values reported. Most of the above normal
amounts of precipitation occurred in northern counties where many
reported over 1 inch for the month. Grand Rapids, International Falls,
Backus, Cook, and Kabetogama all reported over 2 inches. Snowfall was
scarce in many western and southern counties with less than 3 inches
reported in a number of places. In the north snowfall was abundant,
with many areas reporting over a foot. International Falls, Kettle
Falls, Kabetogama, and Orr reported over 20 inches. End of the month
snow depths in northern counties ranged from 15 to 20 inches, while bare
ground was still visible in parts of the Red River Valley. Frost
depths ranged from 15 to 30 inches in the soil.

Freezing rain and
ice visited the state on two or three occasions during the month leading
to a number of accidents. Winds peaked on the 19th of the month with
many observers reporting 40-50 mph gusts.

Weekly Weather potpourri

The NOAA Storm Prediction Center was busy this week. On January 30th
severe thunderstorms in the southeast and mid-Atlantic states brought
damaging winds, with hundreds of reports filed from TN, KY, AL, GA, NC,
FL, SC, and VA among other states. There were also seven tornado
reports filed from Georgia, some with significant structural damage to
buildings and several injuries (among them in Adairsville, GA). SPC
documented 37 tornado reports nationwide during January, a below average
number for the month. SPC expects a quiet period through the weekend
in terms of severe weather threats as we start the month of February.

Strong
Tropical Cyclone Felleng formed in the Southern Indian Ocean this week
and was threatening Madagascar with strong winds, high seas and heavy
rainfall. There were reports of 8-10 inches of rainfall in eastern
parts of Madagascar. Winds were gusting to 110 mph on Thursday (Jan 31)
producing sea wave heights of 30 to 35 feet. The cyclone was expected
to head south between Madagascar and La Reunion Island, then weaken
considerably over the weekend.

The European Wind Energy
Association (EWEA) hosts its annual meeting in Vienna, Austria next
week. It is a showcase for developments in wind energy technologies and
services with participation by over 700 members from 60 countries.
This year's conference will present a focus on economic opportunities
associated with wind energy. You can read more about this organization
and conference here.

News reports this week highlighted more intense air pollution in parts
of China, especially in Beijing where residents were more frequently
wearing masks. Smog was making the air quality hazardous in a variety
of ways, cancelling airline flights and closing highways due to poor
visibility and causing respiratory ailments among citizens. Snow and
rain were expected to help clean the air by the weekend. You can read
more about this here.

A new paper published by the University of New Hampshire documents that
independent voters views on climate change are highly governed by recent
weather conditions. Ten surveys were conducted of independent voters
and all showed that their positions on climate change were swayed if
recent days were unseasonably warm or unseasonably cold. Conversely,
Democrats and Republicans held firmer positions on climate change, that
were not dramatically influenced recent weather trends. You can read
more about this study here.

A new paper in the journal Nature documents how precipitation patterns
vary during warming periods provoked by increased solar radiation versus
the current warming provoked by greenhouse gases. The research
highlights that differences in sea surface temperature patterns have
major effects on precipitation, especially convective storms. You can
read more about this study here.

The NOAA Southeast Regional Climate Center has documented the
climatology for all Super Bowls from 1967-2012. It is interesting
reading to see how the weather has varied for this significant event
despite the fact that most of the time it is played in the southern USA
where the weather is relatively mild. Interestingly enough, next year's
Super Bowl is scheduled for East Rutherford, NJ outdoors, so it could
be played in snow and cold. You can read more here.

MPR listener question

I am still hoping this will turn out to be a snowy winter, so I can
do more cross country skiing. What is the state record for snowfall in
the month of February?

Answer: Several observers have reported as
much as 40 inches of snowfall during the month of February, notably in
1922 and 1939. The statewide record is from Pigeon River Bridge (Cook
County) where they reported 51 inches for the month in 1939. That is
close to a year's worth in 28 days!

Twin Cities Almanac for February 1st

The average MSP high temperature for this date is 21 degrees F (plus or
minus 14 degrees F standard deviation), while the average low is 3
degrees F (plus or minus 15 degrees F standard deviation).

Average dew point for February 1st is 3 degrees F, with a
maximum of 35 degrees F in 1931 and a minimum of -35 degrees F in 1951.

All-time state records for February 1st

The state record high temperature for this date is 60 degrees F at St
Peter (Nicollet County) in 1931. The state record low temperature for
this date is -58 degrees F at Tower (St Louis County) in 1996. State
record precipitation for this date is 1.85 inches at Fairmont (Martin
County) in 1915; and the state record snowfall for this date is 18.5
inches also at Fairmont (Martin County) in 1915.

Past Weather Features:

A
strong winter storm brought blizzard like conditions to southern
Minnesota over January 31 to February 1, 1915. Snowfall amounts over 10
inches were reported by many observers, topped by Fairmont which
measured 18.5 inches. It was the start of a very snowy February for
many in Minnesota.

Another winter storm brought mixed
precipitation and large amounts of snowfall to the state over January 30
to February 1, 1922. In western Minnesota many observers reported over
10 inches of snowfall, with huge drifts. A number of rural schools
were closed for days until the snow melted.

February 1, 1931 was
the warmest in state history. Over 35 Minnesota communities saw
afternoon temperatures climb above 50 degrees F, while overnight lows
remained in the 20s and 30s F. It was a precursor of things to come, as
day after day was above normal. February of 1931 was the warmest in
history at that time. It is still ranked as the 4th warmest in state
history even today, surpassed only by 1998, 1987, and 1954.

February
1, 1996 was the coldest in state history. Arctic high pressure brought
record-setting cold to most communities. Over 50 observers reported
overnight lows of -40 degrees F or colder, and at least 10 observers
were -50 degrees F or colder. It was -42 degrees F as far south as
Rushford, MN.

Word of the Week: PING

A relatively new acronym, PING stands for Precipitation Identification
Near the Ground, a program of NOAA's National Severe Storms Lab. As
research attempt to calibrate NWS radar systems to estimate
precipitation from radar return signals, they need ground truth, real
observations of precipitation at ground level. In this context they are
looking for more weather observers in our area to report when
precipitation is falling, what type it is (frozen or liquid), and how
much has fallen. If you become an observer for them it is easy to
report your data via website access or over your mobile device (cell
phone). You can read more about PING here.

Outlook

Moderating temperatures with chances for snow on Saturday and Sunday.
Continued chance for snow Monday and Tuesday, especially southern and
eastern sections. More of a warming trend on Wednesday and Thursday
with chances for snow by the end of the week.